Cosmic Lovers
by stretch the faunlet
Summary: When Pinhead grants young Stella Ray a wish to return to earth as a human 18-year-old girl for only a day, she is reunited with her best friend from childhood, Gil Lautner. But for that only one day, they realize they're more than just best friends...


**Cosmic Lovers**

** part 1**

**For Only a Day**

**'I took the stars from our eyes**

**And then, I made a map.**

**And knew that somehow, I could find my way back.**

**And I heard your heart beating**

**You were in the darkness, too.**

**So I stayed In the darkness with you…'**

_**- "Cosmic Love", Florence + The Machine**_

The aching feeling in her head… the feel of something soft against her skin… the sensation of being heavy, by the Earth's gravity… her eyes were closed, but she started feeling some very familiar sensations she hadn't felt for God knows how long. She moaned in her sleep and turned her body slightly, feeling the softness underneath her body. A bed… she was in a bed? She figured it was just another one of those dreams… those dreams of being alive again, and being able to feel the small things, like the softness of a blanket, and the warmth of one's skin, the coldness of one's hands… and sometimes she missed the pain. Not the type of pain where you wanted to die than be in anymore of the worst type of pain, but the small types of pain, like getting a paper cut, falling and getting a bruise, headaches… the small types of feeling like that were what Stella Ray missed the most about earth. And now that she was feeling the softness of a blanket over her body, and the bed… the bed felt like sleeping on a soft cloud. Such a wonderful and so real feeling, that Stella didn't want to open her eyes. Instead, she laid there, wherever she was… and slept peacefully.

Then another realization came to her. She was breathing. Actually breathing… she felt her chest rise up and down as she breathed in the air around her… the air of the living… the air she used to blend in perfectly well with being a soul… a spirit… a ghost. But the doubt still clouded her mind. Maybe this was an all-too-real dream… But it felt so real, to real, to be fake. But her mind did play with her mind many times before.

_Wait a second… Pinhead… didn't he…?_

Stella's eyes flew open and she sprang up from her spot. That minuet she knew this was real. She was in a room, a college dorm to be exact. She was sitting in an unknown bed, and a almost identical bed was a few feet away from where she was. But… no one was in the bed. That didn't matter though. Stella looked down and came to an unsettling conclusion. She wasn't wearing any clothes. The blankets were still over her, but now that she was fully awake, she could feel the covers rub against her bare skin.

She was alive. There was no more denying it now.

Though she was frightened. Pinhead sent her back to earth, as a human, but… she knew he didn't send her to wherever the hell she was. It was obvious she fell back to earth somewhere else, and someone found her… but who? And most importantly, was she naked when she fell back to earth? Or did some creep who lived in the dorm room find her and happen to take an interest?

Stella stumbled out of the bed, but having been away from the earth's gravity for so long, she lost her footing and fell to the floor. Hard. She actually felt the pain from the impact, but it wasn't agonizing pain. It was the usual and quick pain that would happen when you fell, that quickly went away after a split second. That sensation was one that Stella missed after being away for so long.

Shaking slightly, Stella got to her feet and stood there, next to the bed she had awoken from. She looked around the room, trying to get a feel for who lived there. It was obviously a guy's dorm, for the fact that nothing in the room was pink or had posters of cute guys from movies or cute male singers, and no stuff animals on the bed… no. This was a guy's dorm, and that worried Stella. What if the guy, or guys, who lived there, who had found her… had maybe, perhaps, done something to her? Though, Stella didn't feel like anything had been done to her. At that moment, she looked down at her body, about to inspect herself for bruises or anything else, when she saw something she hadn't planned on finding.

She wasn't a child anymore… she did notice when she first felt that headache which signaled to her in the beginning that she was alive, that she wasn't thinking like a child. No… her thinking, the way her mind processed everything, wasn't in the mind of a curious child. She was still the same Stella… the girl who went missing as a child many years before and was never found, but just no longer a child. Both physically and mentally. She now realized, looking down at herself, that she had grown a few feet taller. Not grown, but was sent back to earth many few feet taller. Shaking, she brought her hands up and down her bare body… feeling her perky breasts that were never there before, but now suddenly were there… and she had… curves. Her body was very curvy, to her surprise. She was no longer a stick-thin child with a curious mind… but now she was a well-developed young woman, with the same newly developed, and mature mind.

"W-What the fuck…?" Stella felt the words slip out from her lips, and it didn't sound like her old voice. Her new voice sounded a tad similar, somewhat, still soft and gentle, with the same tone, but this time… her voice sounded more grown-up. More mature. And on top of that, she realized she had just said a swear word. And she didn't care. With her new matured mind, and thinking process, it felt like she was used to swearing… like she had always been swearing. All her life. But she knew it was just the way her new mind worked.

She turned her head over to the right side of the room, and spotted a mirror hanging on the front door of the dorm. Stella quickly ran over to it, but tripped a few times, forgetting that she was still getting used to the old sensation of gravity. When she finally stood in front of the mirror, she was flabbergasted.

There, in the mirror, was a pretty young woman. Herself. That was her! She couldn't believe this… she knew she wasn't in someone else's body… she was in the body of what she would have looked like if she had lived. She wasn't a baby-face little girl anymore… now standing there in front of the mirror, examining her new body, a smile creeping over her soft features…

Still in disbelief, though, Stella brought her hand up and gently stroked her cheek, watching herself in the mirror. Tears filled her light blue eyes as she came to the realization, that if her father hadn't killed her… she would have been a beautiful… successful… and happy young woman. But she remembered Pinhead's deal: She could only stay on earth for one day. Her soul would be called back to heaven at exactly midnight. But that didn't matter… one day was enough for her to live out her only day to live out a life that could have been.

Stella stood there in front of the mirror, gazing at herself. Her face was still heart shaped, just not so small and childlike, but her face was still very gentle, and fragile looking. Her cheeks were a light, rosy-red color, and her eyes seemed like a brighter blue than they used to be. Her hair was not blonde like she had expected it to be, for the fact that when she died, 13 years before, her hair was blonde. She felt relieved to see that her hair was the same, natural chocolate brown color it had been a few months before Stella died, and after, when she arrived in heaven. Her shoulder length brown hair was soft and clean, as though it had been washed. She had bangs, which confused her very slightly. She didn't have bangs when she died. But, Stella liked how she looked with the bangs. Another thing that she took interest in with her hair, was the fact her hair was a bit wavy. Overall, she loved the way her hair was styled and the way it felt when she ran her fingers through it. As a child, she never cared for her looks or anything. Her mother did, however. Her mother always put lipstick on her, eye shadow, high heels, very short dresses and skimpy swimsuits… her pageant days were the days were little Stella had felt the worst about her image. She felt ugly then, and during her pageant days, with her mother constantly telling her she looked way more beautiful with heavy make-up on, were the only days Stella actually thought about the way she looked. But now that she was on earth as an 18-year-old, suddenly she thought a lot about her image, and for once, she felt beautiful. Not with heavy make-up and fake blonde hair, but as herself, a young beauty who was gorgeous without having to put any make-up on.

Her thoughts were cut short when she heard some muffled mumbling from another room nearby. When she turned away from the mirror, her eyes fell on another door in the room. Possibly a bathroom, she wasn't sure. She had been so caught up in her thoughts, so caught up in the moment, and trying to take in everything that was going on, that she didn't even hear the mumbling until now. She couldn't help but laugh quietly to herself, thinking about how whoever was in the bathroom didn't even hear her fall out of the bed like some nutcase who kept running into things. It was a rather humorous thought that quickly faded when she felt her nerves grow as she neared the door, the mumbling getting louder, more clearer.

"That's her… holy shit, that is ACTUALLY her… when will she wake up, anyway? Oh my God…"

A cold breeze brushed against her skin. Stella froze, right in front of the door where the muffled mumbling continued on the other side. She was still naked. She glanced over at one of the beds and spotted a dark blue blanket draped over the grey bed covers. She went over, grabbed it, and wrapped it around her nude body like a towel. She really didn't want whoever lived in that dorm room to see her running around completely naked.

Taking a long, deep breath, she advanced towards the door, mentally counting her steps as she did so.

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

Five…

Six…

Seven…

Eight…

Nine…

Ten…

Eleven…

Twelve…

Thirteen…

She paused, stopping right in front of the door. Thirteen… she had been dead, away from the presence of human life for thirteen years… She glanced up, noticing she was right in front of the door. How ironic that it only took her thirteen steps to get right in front of the door, and thirteen years she had been gone.

With her left hand, she reached for the door knob, while her right hand tightly held the blanket that was around her body. She began shaking, her hand now grasping the cold, metal door knob. _Why the hell am I scared? _She wondered, glaring hard at her hand that was on the door knob. _I have nothing to be scared of._

_Then why can't I open the door?_

Her grasp on the doorknob tightened. After a few, long moments, she turned it, and the door opened without creaking, much to her relief. The first thought that Stella had, open reveling what was behind the 'mysterious' door, was that it was in fact, the bathroom. Very mysterious, she couldn't help but to think, sarcastically. The bathroom was small, lightly dimmed, and her eyes fell on the boy that was standing in the bathroom.

He had his back turned, and he barely noticed that the door had even opened. Stella watched him, awaiting some soft of reaction, and when that didn't happen, she decided to get a better look at him. At least, the back of him. He was dressed as though he was ready to go out, most likely to class, since it was college, after all. He had on a plain black t-shirt, and faded blue jeans. He had no shoes on, though, and Stella wondered why. There was something she couldn't help but to notice about the boy… he was… rather… muscular. His arms were, at least.

God only knows what he looks like shirtless, Stella thought to herself, blood rushing to her cheeks. She felt odd. Perhaps it was because she was sent back to earth in that teenage, hormonal age. She was, there was no denying it. But she really couldn't help but take notice about the fact that the boy was fit and lean… he wasn't mega buff, but just… perfect. Now she wondered what he looked like from the front. She wondered what his face looked like. Was he cute? She had a secret urge to find out.

The floor creaked below her feet as she took a step closer towards the boy. Stella froze as she saw him tense up, and slowly, very slowly turned around, staring at Stella.

Stella heard a gasp escape her throat as she took a few steps back once she saw who the boy was.

It was Gil Lautner, Stella's best friend from childhood.

"Gil…?" Her voice could barely be heard as she whispered his name, shocked. Pinhead had sent her to… Gil? Now she remembered why: That was another part of her wish, to see Gil again.

It all made sense now.

"Stella?" Gil took a step forward towards his old friend. He looked worried by her reaction. "Are you… okay? It's me. Gil? Remember?"

Stella only stared at him. He knew it was her. He knew, and that surprised her, but at least now she wouldn't have to prove who she was. She suddenly felt herself smiling at Gil, even feeling tears form in her eyes. She was here, alive, with Gil, once again. Just like when they were kids. It only seemed like yesterday they were at school, playing outside again. Only this time felt better.

"GIL!" Stella rushed over to Gil and nearly rammed into him, throwing her arms around his neck, tears spilling from her eyes. She didn't even notice that she had dropped the blanket that had been wrapped around her body, but she didn't care. She was filled with to much joy and relief to care.

She could feel Gil shaking a bit, but then, very slowly, she felt him wrap his arms around her, holding her close.

"Stella…" He whispered, his voice cracked just a bit when he said her name. His arms tightened around her. For years he wanted to know what had happened to her. As a child, when Stella disappeared, he only knew, and was only told that his best friend was lost, and would most likely find her way home, somehow. But as he grew older, he found out more than her just 'being lost'. Evidence and rumors of abuse began to circulate around Stella's parents, and in middle school, people spread rumors about where they thought Stella's body was, or if her parents really had killed her due to a violent outburst of abuse. Then Gil began to wonder, what had happened to Stella? Not if she would come home, but if she was dead, and if so, killed by who? For years he missed Stella, a lot. After she went missing, he grew into a stage of loneliness and depression. Stella hadn't only been his best friend, but he also had a secret, child crush on her. And when he grew older, Gil wondered what they could have been, together. He wondered what she would have looked like, and imagined them being together, as a couple, if she were still around. Now she was finally here, in his arms, and now those dreams maybe, just maybe, could be a reality.

Gil had no idea that Stella felt the same way. But what he didn't know was that they only had a day together. Only a day.


End file.
